on the national stage once again this morning d.c. schools chancellor michelle rhee will share her thoughts on the state ofducation in america. plus, tragic cause. investigators say the fire that destroyed three homes could have easily been prevented. good morning, everyone. welcome. it is sunday, september 26th, 0 2010. chuck bell is here on top of the weather. and the rain, i don't know, i really thought it was going t wait a little longer in the day. we have some breakaway showers. we appreciate the rain. we wish it would have come in on schedule later on today because we are going to have to put a little chance for rain into your sunday forecast as you look outside over washington this

morning. fairly cloudy sky has remained in place. the cold air and the cold front never made it as far south as it was supposed to. as a result temperatures this morning are in thepper 60s to near 70. there's a look at live doppler. no heavy rain on the radar but random rain drops along 66 to the eastf front royal into western parts of fauquier county. a couple of rain drops south of town along i-95 as well. steadier showers across southwestern and south central virginia but you can see on the satellite loop they're defini definitely closer to us as we go thugh the mid to late morning showers. so if you're planning on heading out to the ravens game today, the browns are in town. kickoff 1:00. there will be a risk of a shower. not going to be a washout. not looking for a lot of rain the front half of the d but it will be enough to make you mad if you're not careful. be ready for a couple of drops. the steadier, heavier showers are on schedule for tonight. monday looks like it could be nearly a washout. tuesday could have rain and some

thunderstorms as well. >> all right. even more. thanks, chuck. people who live in a manassas neighborhood now know what caused the devastating fire that ripped through their community. on thursday flames jumped from house to house destroying three homes and damaged five others. news 4's darcy spencer got reaction from neighbors after they learned what sparked that fire. >> reporter: fire investigators have determined the blaze that destroyed three homes in manassas thursdayas caused by a resident who threw a cigarette butt in a flower plant on his deck. >> potting soil is not dirt. it is organic material. the mulch in the potted plant sometimes is shredded timber, shredded bark. >> reporter: the fire marshal says the blaze in the mmunity spread from the potted plant to the deck to the final siding and then to adjacent homes. it's been ruled an accident. the fire marshal saythe smoker whose house was among those

destroyed had been discarding cigarette butts this way for some time. >> there was a small bree and five to te miles an hour that was blowing in that direction and it probably fanned that. it probably smoldered for a while. >> reporter: many residents learned of the findings at a press conference. >> i'm glad it wasn't arson or somebody throwing a firebomb or somebody doing something malicious. in my heart, i am relieved. >> reporter: some questioned the four-minute response time and whether water supply and pressure were issues in btling the blaze. with you some praise firefighters who prevented it fr spreading further. >> they are saying that by the me they got here, which was pretty quick, the three homes that were already on fire said ty contained it to those three homes. so i think they did a pretty good job. >> reporter: fire officials say they hope the devastation is a

reminder to be safe and responsible with smoking materials. the best way to put out a cigarette is in an ashtray or metal container. in manassas, darcy spencer, news 4 today. ♪ amazing grace a family is getting community support as it deals with the loss of a mother and her two young children killed in a wnhouse fire. people in the lorton neighborhood held vigil for 24-year-old eileen anderson and her sons solomon and alfonso. they died from smoke inhalation and burns in a fire on wednesday. the children were 3 and 5 years old. a fairfax county teenager is in the hospital withife threatening injuries after he was hit by a car st night. this happened about 8:15 at the interstion of pleasa valley road in centreville. the vitim's name and age have not been released. the driver did stay on the scene after the accident.

today public education in washington, d.c., will once again take a national stage. d.c. schools chancellor michelle rhee will diuss the state of education. rhee joins the list of panelists for an exclusive conversation with with "meet the press" moderator david gregory. it will broadcast from the special learning pza at rockefeller center in new york. this is part of nbc's weeklong education nation which will take an in-depth look at reforming the nation's education system. oining rhee are secretary of education arne duncan, former d.c. administrator robert bomb and president of the american federation of teachers who has bu butted heads with rhee in the past. you can watch "meet the press" on nbc 4 this morni at10:30. 68 degrees outside. chuck, what are we in for today? >> i'm optimistic we'll have plenty of dry usable outside weather. mother nature has decided to throw a couple of rain drops our way. we'll give you all the details and talk about back to work and school tomorroas well.

right here in this neighborhood, i grew up learning strong families and hard work means opportunity. and that starts with good hools. it's a tradition here in maryland-- and why in these tough times i've put education first. we've de record investments in our classrooms... doubled the number of charter schools... and we've frozen college tuition for four years in a row. and it's working. experts say we now have the number one schools in the nation.

when it comes to expanding opportunity in every neighborhood, i know that we must do even better.

and welcome back. so we're looking at some rain already today in some places a little bit. >> a little bit. it won't be a lot but it will be enough to get u wet and that's unfortunate for our sunday morning because a lot of people were counting on some dry hours in the front half of the day and rain arriving after dark. people meaning, you kw, some people, myself included, thought that was going to be the way it was going to go. most of the rain is coming later today. but nonetheless mother nature doesn't really like to hear me say oh, the rain will come after sunset. so as a result we're having a few showers here before the sun even comes upn a sunday morning. not going to be a lot of rain the front half of our sunday but it will be enough to wet the ground in a few spots. outside then on sunday morning, hopefully you're having a good start to your sunday so

far. it's early so if you're up and going at this point in the day, then things are already looking up for you. 70 degrees. that's our downtown temrature at ronald reagan washington national airport. the dew points are staying low, down into theupper 40s and low 50s. when i show you the radar, i'm going to show you that and tell you some of the rain drops are evaporating before they get to the ground. the humidity only 51%. the dew point, the temperature nearly 20 degrees apart so that means the air at the surface is relatively dry so these rain drops come down into it. they evaporate and a the lo of them don't make it all the way to the ground. there will be enough that make it to the ground to get some of the ground wet. temperatures are in the mid-60s now in fairfax and loudo counties. still near 70 down towards culpepper. here is a look at the radar. no rain here in town but there are a couple of sinkles now northern fauquier county, down to warrenton. a lot of that, again, not reaching the ground but there will be more opportunities for

rain coming up, heavier rain showers down across richmond and soth side virginia. that is coming up and a lot of that is reaching the ground so as a result of it sliding in this direction we will have an opportuny for some light rain here starting the next couple of hours and lasting until about lunch time. i think we'll get a break in the action here starting early to midafternoon through the late afternoon hrs before steadier rains return once agn for the overnight hours tonight and a pretty good chance of a washout around here as we get to monday and tuesday. plenty of moisture on the way. this area of low pressure is diving down to the south and it will follow that blue line right up over us and as a result we're going to have a very good chance for rin here starting late tonight and then goinghrough monday and through tuesday as well. that weather front hanging down just down to our south. so not looking for much. here is our micro cast, high definition forecast between now and 8:00 tonight. maybe a tenth of an inch at the most through 8:00 tonight. overnight tonight into tomorrow morning, though, the steadier rain showers just in time for

the monday morning commute, back to work and school. this is at 8:00. stdy rains all through the area will last through monday night into tuesday. for today stly cloudy, passing showers, cooler than yesterday. we will not make it into the 90s today. and then tomorrow rain likely pretty much at any point on monday and again on tuesday as well. so 100% chance of rain tomorrow. 80% chance on tuesday with some stronger thunderstorms a possibility now on tuesday, wednesday, thursday, friday nice and dry. a little somethingor everydy in the forecast. >> we like that. a nice mixed bag. thanks, chuck. so the forecast is starting to look more like fall. one other sure sign the's a change in the season, college football. there are some happy terps fans. hakem dermish has the sports minute. good morning, everyone. your sports minute begins with college football. we start in college park maryland again florida international. redshirt freshman danny o'brien

made his first career start and o'brien got the nod becae starter robinson was 0 out with a shoulder injury. o'brien was impressive throwing for 250 yards and two touchdowns and no interceptions. maryland beat fiu 42-28. virginia tech against boston college, the hokies defense was the story. first quarter no score. bc in the red zone. dave under pressure throws it. hose hosely with the interception. the hokies forced three turnovers and blanked boston college 19-0. in charlottes shivillecharlotte got through three touchdowns. uva 48-7. they are unbeaten at home. next up florida state. and in baseball the braves shut out the nationals 5-0 ending the nats' win street. bobby cox earned his 100th victory. they will honor the longtime skipper before today's ball me. and later today the redskins take on the rams at 4:05.

that's your sports minute. i'm hakem dermish. have a great day. next up is reporters no notebook with a closer examination of the governor's race in maryland. we're back in 15 minimum with the top stories and your sunday forecast. here is pat lawson. good morning. welcome to "reporters notebook." let's start with the maryland governors race. it's a race with governor martin o'malley leading former governor bob erlich 50% to 47% with a 4% margin of error making this a statistical dead heat. that's governor o'malley boasting about improved test scores and tuition freezes. meanwhile, the republican governor's association hit back with this ad on erlich's behalf attacking o'malley tax increases and job losses during the recession. first, what do yo make of this race, the polls showing it's so

tight so close to the election. >> well, generally speaking the word is they are energized f. they're energized in maryland, that's good for erlich. normally a democrat in maryland should be enjoying a comfortable lead by now or should be in good shape. the fact that this shows there's disappointment with obama. there's a lack of interest in some parts of the state, maybe prince george's count other parts of the state and if the voters, the democratic voters don't get out and vote, that could spell doom for o'mley with all the democrats get out and vote he's going to be home free. >> a also when i look at these kind of races i look at conditioning. you have to look at the economy, the situation that people are living every day n and this is why you find the swing many, not necessarily democrats, but people turning to the other side, to the other side of the aisle. but this is particular race where republicans don't want to lose. they don't put it all into maryland if they can. >> it's an indication the governor's association gave them

a million dollars just for these kinds of ads. i would suspect with o'mley being the vice chair of the democratic governors association they're not going to be outspent by the republican they're going to take care of their co-chair. what o'malley's going to have it to do is show up in baltimore county, energize the baltimore cou county and certainly have to energize prince george's county. and, as many people know, he hasn't shown his face in both of ose counties, particularly prince george's county, in a long time. i would say one thing, he needs to bringresident obama with him. >> right. obama has to have that one-two punch. republicans are energized. even though maryland is not a publican state -- if i said democrats, i meant republicans. they are energized and if that bill's in maryland like it has to a certain extent in other states and they got a lot of money, that could spell trouble so they've got to work.

>> i just wanted to add there's another area that o'malley nds to go and visit. i've never heard him visit the southern part of the state which is very, very promising. >> bob erlich also has won the endorsement of the state's fraternal order of police. now he's gotten their endorsement before andit has not helped before. how significant do you think that might be this time? >> this could be another added incentive to vote for erlich. if you're a practicing member of the fraternal order of police you're not just a guy who sds in the dues for it. >> o'malley has the low crime numbers torow about. >> that's true and with o'malley's record, this is a refereum on o'malley's record and you have to ask yourself or people are asking why isn't the referendum doing more in his favor than it is? what is the problem here? is the fact democrats are demoralized and might no vote, is that going to be a problem? we don't know yet. >> well, it's also the fact

across the country and not just in maryland but across the country they send to be very conservative. let's be honest about that. they're very law and order oriented and i don't see it being as much of a help as a lot of people do. >> going to a tea party in virginia governor robert mcdonough and the state's other top elected leaders are going to take center stage at virginia's first tea party convention. it takes place next month in richmond. governor monald, the lieutenant governor are all going to be at the convention, all going to speak at the convention. it takes place october 8th and 9th. what does th mean coming just a few weeks before t midterm? joe, you're chuckling. >> the republican establishment all across this country but particully are scared. they're scared of the tea party even though they don't know

which tea party they're scared to death of. there are three tea parties. there's the grassroots group over here and the patriots which is having this event. both paid palin $100,000 tohow up in vegas. and then the other two don't like the national tea party. but the bottom line is established republicans hear tea party, they're going to show up because they don't -- they're afraid of thisrassroots movement that's swelling up across the country. they saw what happened in delaware. they don't want it to happen in virginia. >> they're getting on the bandwagon and they do, it's true, they're afraid of their call for everybody being thrown out. >> that's right. >> but they also see a large -- a tremendous ability to generate voter interest, to generate the base up and republicans get off of their back sides and go out and vote and they love the organizing and stimulative part of the tea party, let us say.

and i think they're playing a rough game now. they're riding the whirlwind now and it may get them back in office and save them or it may just consume them. >> well, you know, delaware raised eyebrows. there's no doubt about it. and new hampshire. >> kentucky. >> so, i mean, it's obvious that in a ate like virginia i'm not surprised that the tea party is going to hold a convention. i mean, i hate to say it, i'll go out on a limb. it's typical of virginia. i would say from my point of view. when you talk about people like th moderate but the attorney general is conservative. so he welcomes it. there's a good platform in virginia. >> and look at -- the people need to understand, look at what the tea party is given in delaware, a wannabe witch. the whole thing. rand paul.

>> that was youthful experimentation. >> and if it had been obama he would have been all over the press. >> a lot of people, she experimented, with drugs when they were tals. she only experimented -- >> and she wanted to get rid of social security and there's a whole bunch of other things she is on the record of. they've given us some strange people. nevada, strange people. so who knows what will come out. >> the question is will their anger or demand for change outweigh some of the positions some of them, maybe many of them, have taken. how scary are ty? how effective are they? the establishment is afraid. the establishment is more than willing, though, to put money into them and make sure they work. you do have an example of tea party versus establishment. jerry connolly against feinman is running in his race against a tea party backed guy and we'll see what happens there. >> but, like i said, i said it

on wmal, this is tea party extremistsnd when you look at the vote, and all thisomes out of the center. >> all right. we have to take a break.

welcome back. d.c. mayor nominee vincent gray says he's open to rehiring some of the 266 teachersired last october by superintendent michelle rhee. she said that it was largely because of the budgets that these teachers were let go and then some of them, she said, were fired for abusing students. gray says he thinks the teachers who were fired only for budgetary reasons should be rehired. and the question might be raised, why not? >> well it i can see that happening especially after last week. the union, the teachers union, has now come under the control

of the aft so that whole management deal has changed. george parker who is the president of the washington teachers union says there's no certainty about his future and he might change off so there's no certainty there. the new mayor has to play along with the teachers union. you' talking about not having a confrontation with one of the largest unions in the district of columbia and that's teachers. >> i would think somewhere along the line there was a discussion that you would consider this if you get elected mayor. so this may be a campaign promise being ke and, therefore, they'll just have to find the money somewhere in the budget to do this. this also speaks to what do you or to you not do with the chancellor because it flies in her face. so it will be interesting to see w this plays out.

> might that derail any reform, dave? >> well, that was the question. the qution when vinct gray was elected by his detractors, i would say, is that this will allow the teachers union to come back in, to gin the upper hand, the slow progress, the slow reform and those critics will probably say that the efforts to rehi some of the teachers or to look at that question is part of the effort. >> it bothers me -- when i hear other people say -- >> that's good to know. >> the slow reform. whose reform? because everybody wants a better school system. it's just a question of how do you go about it and what teacher unions will tell you is that, look, we don't want ineffective teachers and we d't protect ineffective teachers. what we do is make sure there's due process in the hiring and firing of teachers. and that's what they argue. >> since you brought up the teachers union, george parker is

responding this week to michelle rhee's appearance on a very popular national talk show last week where she said that in order to fire ineffective teachers administrators have to basically meet a criminal standa stanrd. >> disingenuous. that's very disingenuos. any union, i don't care what union it is and i'vdealt with unions as many of us have. you know, they don't protect people, teachers, who are ineffective and they certainly don't protect criminals. again, what they do is make sure that there's due process. and i think this is just her way of making statements on a national stage much like it was awful the way the election went down and then she hado back up from that statement. >> the real one is devastation.

using the word devastation. the people's choice. the people's choice, if that comes through, then it's devastation to the kids of the district of columbia. so this woman has a loose mouth. >> well, the overall issue, are there ineffective teachers? should they be removed and how can they be removed? and are unins preventing the proper removal of these people by resorting to critics again on that side say feather bedding, stopping that prcess? and obviously the debate is far from over. >> michelle rhee has gotten most of the attention when it comes to d.c. schools, but d.c. has a state superintendent of education who is resigning. carrie briggs is her name. she resigned last week in a move that stunned the board of education and some others. this apparently had been in the orks long before the primary. who is carrie briggs and how will her leaving impact d.c.?

>> well, that's a good question. pardon me. most people, you know, maybe somebody -- i think most people in washington aren't even sure who she is or that there's that job or these people do these things. she is the organizational head, as it were, of the state's department of education. michelle rhee had another job and got all the publicity. >> and did any of us know there was a state board of education. jerry obviously knew because jerry knows everything. when it comes to the ciy. most people didn't even know. >> the power was given to the chancellor and so - plus, she was a bush appointee who got appointed and gives her resignation before the primary. doesn't win the primary, she gets her hat, packs up and she's gone back to texas.

>> but she sat -- >> sat on the resignation. >> this resignation came out two weeks before the primary. fenty sat on it. there you . the state boa of education is 0 only known for those insiders. >> any impact on the schools? >> from my reporting, i can't see any. >> it depends on what happens after all these meetings. >> thanks, guys. stay with us now for news 4 today which tips. schools sit down. miclle rhee will debate the state of educaon in this country on a national stage this morning. good morning and welcome back to news 4 today.

i'm aaron gilchrist. carolyn suitors is off today. meteorologist chuck bell is here with us. in the 60s. cooler than yesterday. >> going to stay cooler today. the clouds are already in place. a litt bit of light rain coming down as well. that's going to really help tap our temperatures today in, of all place, the mid-70s which would be average for the end of september. forget about that 93 yesterday and the 99 on friday, the 90s are now gone from the area and i'm about 50/50 confident we won't see 90 again until 2011 which is a very good thing. >> that would be nice. >> temperatures right now in the mild mid to upper 60s at this point in time. there are few light showers on radar. western parts of loudoun county along 6 out there. we're keeping an eye on those. these are not going to be too much here in the front half of the day b more rain is coming our way for overnight tonight and into tomoow. so there's your forecast.

aying in the 70s all day. a risk of a fewight showers this morning and then we'll have some dry, usable outdoor weather hours. >> thanks, chuck. >> okay. today nbc kicks off a weeklong focus on learning with education nation. "meet the press" will zero in on the efforts in washington, d.c., and across the country. d.c. schools chancellor michelle rhee will join dad gregory. listen in as panelists discuss he heart of the problem with our nation's public schools and what reforms are working. joining rhee are secretary of education arne duncan, robert bobb and president of the american federation of teachers randi weingarten. you can watch "meet the press" at 10:30. president obama is coming out swinging against the republicans' latest plan, what they call a pledge to america. earlier this week top republicans unfailed the plan that calls for lower spending,

repealing the president's health care plan and extending the bush tax cuts. it is similar to the contract with america that then speaker newt gingrich proposed in the mid-'90s. president obama is firing back saying the gop is simply not listening to what americans want. >> the republicans who want to take over congress offered their own ideas the other day. many were the very same policies that led to the economic crisis in the first place, which isn't surprising since many of their leaders were among the architects of that failed policy. >> president obama added that the republicans' plan amounts to tax cuts for millionaires and the returnf the failed policies of the past eight years. new today, the pentagon hopes buying up copies of an army reserve officer's memoir could help keep some state secrets safe. according to a cnn report the defense department destroyed 9,500 copies of the memoir operation dark heart by lieutenant colonel schaefer.

mi military officials said the manuscript detailed secret activities about the command, the cia and the national security agency. the publishers think martin's press released a second printing with several edits. d.c. police continue to look for suspects in the homicide in southeast washington. police responded to the 800 block of southern avenue southeast around 3:45 yesterday aft afternoon. the man was taken to the hospital where hdied. police have not released the man's name because they haven't been able i to notify his family. at this point they don't have any suspects in custody but they are talkg to witnesses in the building. police also looking for the man who shot and killed a 19-year-old student from virginia at a college party this weekend. jessica moore was from near peteburg. she attended seton hall in new jersey. police say moore was at a party off campus early saturday morning when a man got kicked out because he didn't pay the cover charge. that's when detectives say he came back and started shoot thing. are moore was one of five people who were hit. four others are still in the

hospital. classmates and school officials say moore wi be missed. >> like my sister. i called her my sister. i tell her i love her every day. >> i do knowhe was a loyal pirates basketball fan. that's the one thing i know she really enjoyed. >> detectives in east oran are offering a $10,000 reward for iormation leading to a conviction of the gunman. a british tabloid claims it has pictures of lindsay lohan shooting up heroin. the photographs appear in "news of the world." it claims this is the first evidence of lohan doing hard drugs. word of the pictures came one day after authorities released the actress from a los angeles-area jail. an appeals judge allowed her to post a bond. she was ordered to stay in jail until her next hearing on october 22nd after she failed a court ordered drug test. her recent legal troubles stem from violating probation in the

2007 drunk driving conviction. your time now is the 6:35. still to come this morning, a teen's uneected encot earp off the coast of virginia. what ppened that is going to keep him out of the water for a while. plus, dyou recognize this? a dress that gained international attention hitshe auction block. and next, this really is incredible. a first look at what rescuers plan to use to save those miners who are trapped inside the earth. four years ago, bob ehrlich got fired as governoof maryland. for good reason. first, he protected tax loopholes for giancable cable companies. then, he let utilities jack up our rates 72%. and for the st four years, he worked as a hiregun for big corporations, even a bank thatr

fund bailout. ehrlich sides with corporate executives again and again and again tell bob ehrlich big banks and billionares don't need hel middle cde do.

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it's built to help you see your money in a whole new light. experience everying virtual wallet has to offer at pncvirtualwallet.com. c. for the achiever in us all. ♪ it's been a month and a half underground for the 33 trapped ilean miners but good news is on the way. the first of three rescue capsules arrived yesterday big enough to hold oneerson and allows for 90 minutes of breathing inside the capsule. two backup rescue devices should arrive next week. they're expected to be scued early november. a virginia beach teenager is

lucky to be alive after being attacked by a shark while surfg. he was surfing when he was blind sided by that vicious predator. nbc's jason marks with the story. >> reporter:it was a day at the beach three friends won't soon forget. >> look at the teeth imprints. >> i thought it would never happen. >> when we first got there, it did not even cross my mind that we could potentially be in danger. >> reporter: they wereanging out at sand bridge. >> down at a place called porters island. we go surfing down there a lot. >> reporter: they were standing next to their board when they felt something in the water brush up against them. >> he said there's something out here with us and i couldn't even finish my next sentence before it grabbed my ankle and i kind of felt a little bit of a thrashing. >> from the waist down he was covered in blood. i had a lot on my arms. it was pretty hectic. >> i jumped on my board to get

myself out of the water. i felt my board lean back and the sharp pain in my knee and then after that it let go, just a quick bite and release. >> reporter: with help fom his buddies caleb was able to get back to the beach. >> i looked down and i can't even see the cuts because i just see blood pouring down my leg. >> reporter: rescue crews believe he was attacked by a shark. his knee and ankle are now bandaged. he has 51 stitches and a story to tell. >> i was just hoping that i wasn't going to lose a leg or not be able to move my leg ever again. i was just hoping for that. i feel real lucky i can still move my leg. >> i guess because where we live we don't think about it because it happens so rare. we're thinking, you know, almost impervious to it. >> reporter: no one ever saw the shark, not that anyone wanted to, but the fear of what's lurking in the water isn't going to sop caleb from going back out. >>i will eventually just not anytime soon. it will probably be next summer before i do. >> nbc's jason marks reporting there.

officials are trying to figure out what kind of shark attacked caleb. they took his surfboard to analyze the bite marks. some news for your health. it's tough to get kids to eat their veggies. there's a good chance your son or daught is not drinking enough water. a new study in "clinical nutrition" says the dangers of children not getting enough water can have far reaching imications. doctors say a lack of water can affect psychological functions and cause fatigue, muscle weakness and headaches. researchers found that today's children ar less likely to have water with their meals. instead many opt for sodas and juices. i'm guilty. >> you're also not a kid anymore. >> i'm young at heart. >> i know, i know. but your mom doesn't pour it into your glass before dinner, does she? that's the difference. there is the difference there. we are looking for a little bit of a drink from mother nature. all clean, fresh water at least until it hits theground.

a complete check of the forecast coming straight up. ♪

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tropical storm matthew pounding the caribbean coast and now honduras is on alert. the red cross says a few thousand aid workers are in place to help. the storm could dump a much ten inches on honduras and neighboring nicaragua. people are being evacuated and flights are grounded. something always rough for them to do. >> in addition to the wind threat but people forget the real threat from a lot of these land falling hurricanes is either, "a," storm surge, or the rains. honduras and nicaragua are not flat countries at all. they are ry big hills and you put tropical moisture up the steep mountnside and you're going to get rain out of that thing like crazy. that's the reason they're so afraid of that. hurricane mitch in 1998 or 1999 killed several thousand people with a massive flood event. so they really need to take that

stuff very seriously. we need to keep a close eye on matthew the next couple of days as well. eventually the hurricane center and some of the computer models now think matthew may re-emerge across the far southwestern parts of the caribbean and end up in the southern part. we'll have to keep a very close eye on that. the weather pattern could drag that over the florida peninsula. a lot of uncertainty in that forecast obviously. nonetheless it's something that we are keeping an eye on in the weather office for our potential forecast here i the washington area. outside on a sunday morning, kind of nice and quiet out there. temperatures are in the upper 60s to around 70 degrees. plenty of clouds have rolled in as well and a few rain drops can be found across the region. 70 degrees at national airpor the dew point 51. whenhe numbers are this far apart that means a lot of the rain drops will evapote before they get all the way to the ground. humidity only 51%. there's that nor wind at 13 miles per hour.

temperatures never really did get as cool this morning as i really thought they we going to thanks to the clouds coming in and the cold front never made it all the w down. this time yesterday really looked like the front would make it all the way down to the virginia/north carolina border. it stalled out and washed out just barely down to our south and as a result our temperatures never really cooled f the way they should have. 61 degrees in frederick, maryland. 59 in martinsburg. cull pep earp at 68 this morning. here is a look at live doppler. a couple of rain drops here in northern loudoun county from leesburg. frederick county, maryland, these are coming in your general direction. a lot of those rain drops are not reaching the ground. some of them are so you can't take the chance for rain out of the forecast completely. looks a lot scarier on the regional composite than it really is. these showers, though, are the real dl. they could drop as much as a tenth of an inch of rain and then back down across the deep south, the western carolinas. that's where the next storm system isinally starting to get itself organized. 's going to make the turn

across the deep south and right up the spine of the appalachians monday night into tuesday. that will be our chance for significant rainfall aund here. temperatures, we're at 70 here. 48 in detroit. 43 in minneapolis/st. paul. there's a lot of temperature differential in the atmosphere and that sort of helps indicate how strong the storm can become. plenty of moisture to work with. gulf of mexico and the atlantic ocean both in play. this area of low pressure diving down towards the deep south today will make the turn and come right up the mountains and as it it does so a real soaking rain especially down across the southern parts of virginia and into the western carolinas where some places could get three to five inches of rain. we won't get quite that much around here. that area of low pressure does turn the corner and comep with the eastern seaboard. i think on average 1 to 2 are a good likelihood around here. that is welcome news and much appreciated rainfall. here is our micro cast high def.

it it paints a picture of a little chance for rain th morning. rainfall amounts between now and sunwn less than a tenth of an inch but it will be enough to get a few spots on the west side. we'll have many dry urs this after knoop and then overnight tonight into tomorrow. that's when the real steady rains come in by 8:00 tomorrow night. heavy rain for monday night. clou. passing lht showers today but still many usable dry hours. tomorrow will be a different story with soaking rains the likelihood for tomorrow afternoon, tomorrow night, and then some stormy weather goes into tuesday. might even have to concern ourselves with a chance for a strong to severe thunderstorm tuesday afternoon and then things settle right back down. that's the friday, saturday time frame. we'll have to keep an eye on matthew and see what he does. albert haynesworth breaks his silence and an unlikely hero on the field for the university of maryland. hakem dermish with this moning's sports. good morning, everyone. freshman quarterbacks usually hold a clipboard the sideline. but not maryland's danny

o'brien. yesterday the redshirt frhman made his first career start against florida international. the kid was stellar. but it's no surprise. two weeks ago playing in a b backup role o'brien threw three first half touchdowns. yesterday o'brien got the nod because starter jamar robinson was out with a shoulder injury. in college park, second quarter, danny o'brien and the terps traed 7-0. here they come working out of the shotgun. o o'brien throws to the corner of the end zone. williams, are you kidding ? gets the foot down, makes the grab. great catch. terrapins tied at 7-7. o'brien is the fst freshman to start at qb for maryland in 11 years. ensuing panthers possession, punting it away to tony logan. this guy is od. fields it at the 15 yard line. tony logan is also a speedy fellow, gets by everyone. and tony logan is going to score.

85-yard punt return for the touchdown. maryland takes a 14-7 lead just like that. and terps' starting qb robinson on the sideline hurt his shoulder last week. third quarter, game knotted at 21-21. o'brien and the terps up t and deep for torre smith. a 68-yard scoring strike. so brian threw for 250 yards, two tds and no interceptions. also ruing back scott had two tds on 103 yards rushing. maryland beat fiu 42-28 improving to 3-1. virginia tech opening up conference play against boston college. the hokies defense went to work. sideline, first quarter, no sco score. bc. under pressure throws but it's the big interceptio that's impressive. ensuing hokies possession. taylor, just smooth here. drops back. plentyof time. finding somebody. looking for somebody. rolls right. tosses it to darren evans.

scoots down the sideline. 30-yard gainer. evans would score on the very next play giving virginia tech a 7-0 lead. hokies defensive coordinator foster, looking like mad man on the sideline. hey, hey, watch the qb here. 15econds to play first half. first and goal for the eagles. runs out of the pocket trying to get it to the end zone. morgan, number two on the tackle. and short of the goal line and the clock expes so that's it. end of the half. frank beamer and the hokies blanked boston college 19-0, their first shutout since 2006. the hokies are now 2-2. let's go to charlottesville. mike london and the virginia military institute. first quarter, no score. cavs on offense. dontrelle inman. watch this kid. makes some moves and he's in for a 25-yard score. uva in front, 7-0. threw three touchdowns.

later game tied at 7-7. vmi kicking it off to reynard horn. he's also a talented young man. takes it at the 13 yard line. finds some rnning room. and i would say that this is an abundae of running on the play. 87 yards for the score. the cavs win big, 48-7. uva is unbeaten at home. next up florida state seminoles. redsns defensive tackle albert haynesworth expects to play today against the rams after eing inactive last week. haynesworth has been a topic of conversation for all of the wrong reasons. esterday he added more to the discussion. here's hayneorth talking about his contract on the rock show on 1.7 the fan. >> iuess a lot of people don't have backbones. just because someone pays you money esn't mean they can make you do whatever they want or

whtever, you know? it means everything is for sale? i'm not for sale. yeah, i signed a conact and i paid a lot of money, but just because that don't mean i'm for sale or a slave or whatever. you know? i mean, like we agreed upon come to that that i would play defensive ckle and not nose guard and all ofhis other stuff. signing with a 4-3 team. there were a lot of promises and stuff like tt. now, i mean, it has been better. we run a lot of 4-3 stuff and you'll see that tomorrow. talking baseball now. ryan zimmerman missed his third straight game because of a rib injury. riggleman said zimmerman could sit out the remainder of the year. in the other dugout is braves manager bobby cox and he's on the final leg of his farewell tour. the 69-year-old is set to retire

at the end of the season. the nationals will honor the longtime skipper before today's game. yesterday cox earned his 2,500th victory. top three, no score, brian mccann up with two on, no out. nats playing the shift. alberto gonzalez stops it. ian desmond not covering second. throw to first and adam dunn can't take it. derek lowe comes in to score. here comes jason hayward. grabs the ball, throws to the plate and he's so out. that ends the inning but the braves take a 1-0 lead. top six, same sco. facing mccann again down the right-field line. michael moore and kennedy giving chase looking up into the sun and, wow, kennedy makes a great catch there. tough looking up into the sun. still making the catch. still in the inning, three batters later, alex gonzalez up with two on and he crushes one to left. out for a three-run home run. the braves shut out the nationals 5-0. ends washington's four-game win streak.

manager bobby cox gets his 2,500th victory. that's all for your morning sports. i'm hakem dermish. have a great day. and one more sports football score to pass along to you. mountaineer fans may want to look away. west virginia lost to lsu, done in by special teams. lsu's patrick peterson returned the punt 60 yards for a touchdown. and blocked the field goal. west virginia battled back but fell short. the final score 20-14. the so-called white house party crashers are using their celebrity to do some good. we told but this yesterday. salahi is auctioning off the infamous house she wore to the white house dinner for charity. this is the drs being previewed at the potomac company in alexandria. we went out to see it. the actioneers expect it to go between $2,000 and $3,000. the auction is this coming saturday. 80% of theroceedwill go to two charities. and there you go.

>> you g your bid in? >> no. i'll let it go. whoever wants it, i will not get in your way. >> okay. >> mo worries there. still much more news 4 today after the break. also "viewpoint." right here in this neighborhood, i ew up learning strong filies and hard work means opportunity. and that starts with good schools. it's a tradition here in maryland-- anwhy in these tough times i've put education first. we've made record investments in our classrooms... doubled the number of charter schools... and we've frozen college tuition for four years in a row. and it's working. experts say we now have

the number one schools in the nation. when it comes to expanding opportunity every neighborhood, i know that we must do even better.

welcome back. i'm aaron gilchrist. kimberly is offhis morning. it's sunday, september 26th, 2010. the news is coming up in just a second. first a quick look at our forecast this morning. meorologist chuck bell is here with us as we talk about slightly cooler weather. >> much cooler. much cooler weather. nearly 20 degrees cooler today than yesterday so that will be a very nice change. no more 90s, everyby. we made 93 yesterday but we will not do that today. we may even struggle to get out of th 70s this afternoon. live picture shows a full deck of overcast. temperatures in the mid and upper 60s in most neighborhoods. here's a look at regional doppler. a plume of moisture that goes all the way down the spine of the aalachians. as a result clouds are here to stay all day. we have some renegade showers out there first thing this morning. some more dry hours mid to late

afternoon before the heavier, steadier rains come in tonht. that little rain plan ready to go first thing this morning. won't be anything too heavy. >> thank you, chuck. taking a lo at our top stories this morning, today d.c. schools xhans lore michelle rhee will be a guest on "meet the press" part of the panel discussing the state of education in our country. you can watch "meet the press" here onbc 4 this morning at 10:30. investigators say a cigarette caused a fire that destroyed three homes in manassas, virginia. thursday flames jumped from one house to another. a smoker put a cigarette out in a potted plant. ames spread from theeck to vinyl on the house and then to the homes next door. in lorton, virginia, a community is mourning the loss of a mother and her two children killed in a townhouse fire. neighbors held a candlelight vigilast night for eileen anderson and her sons solomon and alfonso. they died of smoke inhalation and burns after their home caught fire on wednesday.

no official word yet on what sparked that fire. those are some of the stories making news today. nbc 4's viewpoint is next. gd morning, everybody. welcome to "viewpoint." i'm jim handley. education nation this week is focusing on scools. what's working, what's notnd ho to improve education in the u.s. our guests are experts in education. dr. leslie finwick, bryan jones, the chair of the d.c. public charter school board, and we also have with us senior director of community and school-based programs at central. welcome to all of you. welcome back to "view point." great to see you all. let's start with sobering sta tis particulars out there.

the u.s. ranks 25th in math, 25 21st in science compared to other countries in the world. we have eighth graders 68% of them not reading at grade level. the big question, how did we get there and how did we lose our competitive edge, do you think? il start with you, dean. >> quality teachers are at the nexus of all of this. before we measure student outcomes on tests that we should be measuring stent access to credentialed teachers. we know about 70% of black, brown, and poor children are more likely to not have a teacher certified teaching them math,science, social studies and english. and so if we look at that statistic and dissect that atistic, children aren't getting access to credentialed teachers who are teaching high-caliber curriculum that would impact their performance on these tests and i'd lick to see more analysis of that and an improvement of the teaching force for those communities particularly poor, bla and

brown schools. >> are you seeing that in your community as well? >> absolutely. quality teachers is a very important issue. i would also add access to quali childhood education. so many of our children don't have access to quality childhood education. what that means they're starting kindergarten not ready to learn. not ready to to begito learn how to read and to learn the basics of math and so they're starting behind in many respects and then each year they only continue to get more behind. >> what have charter schools done to open up this access that we're talking about? >> well, i think that's a good question and my sense is that i agree quality teaching is really central to a sound education for kids and for educational opportunities. i think the issue really has been a systemic one in a way. we've had a system, a public school system that for a very long time was something of a cookie cutter approach to public education. i think what we've seen over the

last 20 years or so is a real revolution in how we deliver education and i think the charter school revolution has been central to that. charter schools are independently run schools that operate sort of independent of a lot of the rules and strict tourthat traditional puic schools face. what that encourages is innovati. and i think a lot of that inovation relates to teaching, leadership and governorance, to accountability and the rest. it's those things that have allowed the charter school movement to really lead the reform effortsf the country. >> doctor, back to teaching, how has teaching changed? how has learning for teachers changed when they go to college and become teachers? >> probably before i answer that question i'd like to couple the teacher quality conversation with stability of leadership. there are many good teachers who are languishing in schools where

the's not stable principal leadership, informed principal leadership and too many schools that serve poor black and brown children, notch is princils who aren't prepared to help teachers dissect data, refine curriculum, tailor curriculum to the needs of their students. teaching certainly has changed since i graduated from a teacher educaon program in 1983. i taught in urban schools. the issues children present with, i think, are more complex and so the neweacher not only has to understand testing data and, you know, how to intervene where students aren't performing well. he or she has to be aware of a variety of social services that they may need to attach their children to help with those coming with the needs children may have. so i think the new teacher more

than being a super man or super woman is someone who has to have a deep knowledge about the use of data and how to diagnose student perfmance with that data. how have have them engage in instructional practices and connect students to social services that they need or that their families may need. >> alright. we're going to take a break. we'll pick up the conversation from there as we promote our education nation this week and talk about schools and how to improve them on "viewpoint" this morning. think about the internet. growg, evolving, literally transforming our lives. of what tomorrow could bring.

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welcome back. we're talking about schools this morning and during the break we were talking about how much more diverse our school systems here and across the country have become and what kind of challenges that presents to people. >> it does present challenges

certainly and in the day-to-day life of the teacher it means tt a given teacher may need to come to know the cultural background and linguistic background onot just one group but maybe 10 or0 groups in a classroom. certainly we're thinking about the diversity of children's backgrounds as a strenh and as an opportunity. and that the more the teachers come to understand their children's life stories, the better they'll be able to engage children in literacy acvities and all kinds of different learning activities in the classroom. >> to know where they're coming from. >> absolutely. >> and how to connect and relate to them. were talking about secretary of education arne duncan is going to be making an announcement to a program coming up this week as part of education nation. you have a program at howard and it's been in place about three years now. tell us about that. >> yes. that's a $2.1 million funded program from the u.s. department of education and we' very proud of that program at howard niversity building on the earlier point about diversity. our student population in public

scols across the nation is aut 38% african-american and hispanic and our teaching force doesn't reflect that demographic diversity. only abo between 6% and 8% are after rin-american and less tha 4% are hispanic latino and less than 1are asian so we have this demographic mismatch between the profile of the public school students and the teachers and other school personnel who are serving them. so the intention of ready to teach is to assist with diversifying its teaching force. we partnered with five city schools across the nation in chicago, in houston, atlanta, georgia, clayton county, geora, outside of atlanta, prince george's county, and washington, d.c. and we recruit men from these locales who hold bachelor degrees and are looking into transitioning into the teaching profession. they come to howard university school of education.

they earn a traditional master of arts and teaching degree and they return to serve in these communities for a minimum of three years. and in out 2 1/2 years we've already producedteacher of the year in chicago public schools. >> wonderful. >> and we have a number of wonderful stories. the profile of each of our cohorts is very diverse. it's men, women, african-americans, caucasians, hispanic latinos. wre continuing to recruit and we're really pleased about the performance of the program. our firstyear had373 applicants for 25 slots. >> wow. >> so there's an interest out there in become a teacher. >> that's huge. >> and in serving in urban communities. >> our viewers should know d.c. has the most iterms of charter schools of any other area in the country aside from w orleans. >> that's right. we have the highest concentration of public school kids in charter schools. we have about 28,000 of our

public school students in the district are enrolled in charter schools. we have 52 charter schools here in the district and about 40% of the kids, roughly 40% of the public school kids are in charters today. and, again, i think that's part of the comprehensive education reform that's under way. i think this conversation about teaching is really essential. i think that the point that's been made that quality teaching is legally it at the re of educational improvement is essential and so i think what we do need to do and this also will help us draw quality individuals into the teaching profession and that is to, again, think about how we go about sort of professionalizing teaching and elevating teaching as a professional aspiration. partof that relates to, again, figuring out what it is that makes a good teacher and the gates foundation is spending hundreds of millions of dollars. trying to figure out the secret sauce of excellent teaching and

then systematically we have to be able to support a mod that will allows us to be able to reward the best teachers. and, again, we have a new contract here in the strict. that mves us in that direction. >> let's talk about that merit pay. that's been much debated out there. yor thoughts on merit pay, does it work? do you see a direct linkage with bonuses and student performance in our school systems, or is it too early to say? >> that's a tough question. it's a complex questi, i think. i'm most interested in seeing a system that will encourage a higher percentage to serve and serve more than adequately in urban settings. >> and stay on the job,

retention. >> retention. those schools are not attracting credentialed teachs. there needs to be the placement of teachers and incentivizing teachers to serve in urban schools. >> we have it in place in the district and a program in prince george's county as well and a growing number of school systems throughout our country. the whole concept of bonuses and merit pay, too. another quick break and we'll be right back as we continue our conversation on education in america.

four years ago, bob ehrlich got fired as governor of maryland. for good reason. first, he protected tax loopholes for giant cable cable companies. then, let utilities jack up our rates 72%. and for the last four years, he worked as a hired gun for big corporations, even a bank that took billions from a taxpayer funded bailout. ehrlich sides with corporate executives again and again and again tell bob ehrlich big banks and billionares don't need help. middle cde do. good morning. i'm aaron gilchrist. some of the top stories this morning. you've been listening to the education debate on "viewpoint." it contues this morning on "meet the press "when michelle rhee will be among the panelists talking about education reform. that's this morning at 10:30. d.c. police continue to look

for suspects in the homicide in southeast washington. police responded to the 800 block of southern avenue southeast around 3:45 yesterday afternoon. police have not released the male victim's name. a fairfax county teenager is in the hospital with life threatening injuries after he was hit by a carast night. thisappened about 8:15 at the intersection of pleasant valley road in centrevie. the driver distay on the scene. that's a look at our headlines. now back to "viewpoint." and welcome back to "viewpoint." talking about education in our area and throughout the country and where we rate for rank in the overall scheme of things when we talk about the global picture, comparing us to other countries. we were talking about this culture of high achievement. you mentioned that. but beyo math and science and

standardid tests you have a lot of programs there that really bring in people with after school programs, arts and extracurricular things, too. why is that so important? >> it's importantor children to have an opportunity to take the skills of reading, mathematics, the skills they're learning in science classes and have an opportunity to apply those skills by creating different projes, by creative problem solving skills as they're taking on the challenge of, let's say, creating aural or some other intensive art proje project. and within this culture of high achievement it's important that we continue to have high expectations, certainly of children but not lose sight of providing them many opportunities for creative thinking. >> that they can be passionate about and really love. i've witnessed that in your programs, the after school and evening programs you ve. you talk, bria so much about charter schools, this innovat n

innovation, inking outside the rules and restrictions and outside that box. and that's what charter schools are known for. >> absolutely. i love the use of the word passion. when i travel around and visit theharter schos in the district, i used to work the department of education, the u.s. department of education had the privilege of visiting in 37 states. and the adership in most of the excellent schools that i saw, you could feel the passion in the place and i think, again, that's what is sort of the innovative environment school leaders find themselves in really invites. again, because we operate somewhat outside of the strict tours of the traditional system, it's a system that allows 1,000 flowers to bloom and so in washington, d.c., we've got schools that are devoted to the arts. we have schools that are devoted to math and science or college prep or we have a hospitality high school. for students interested in the hospitality industry and so it's that kind of have a variety, th of diversity, really, that i

think really speaks to both the passions of the people who founded the school but also the broad array of opportunities that exist for children in the charter community here of d.c. >> dean, can you teach passion? what mas a good teacher? >> i think that the best teachers really come to the field with a calling and then you teach the strategies for connecting with students. but the best teachers view it as a calling and they build their instructional expertise on relationships. they're establishing a relationship with the students. however they do that by being culturally aware, linguistcally diverse, having intestingnd engaging teaching practices, they believe that that relationship is the core to reaching the child. and i've heard some of these gat teachers young and old say great teachers are like a great comedian they understand the audience doesn't get the joke, they don't get the joke. so if you're teaching and it doesn't stick, you're not a great teacher. so i think that passion and that

moral high calling about the prfession is critical. >> and how do we motivate students? there's so much pressure on teachers to perform and get the numbers in their classrooms, but how do you motivate students? it's got the to be tough and tougher these days, there are so many distctions out there. >> i think we get to know our students and we cme to learn what they feel passiotely about and then create lessons that tap into and connect to what students already feel passionately about and show them the connections between what they care about about their daily lives and a given writing assignment, for example. >> in charter schools -- >> and i wa going to say i would just add tothat that i think there's a combination of things. we've talked some here about data. i think data is important because it allows us to sort of identify the strengths and weaknesses of teachers as they're addressing students but we al talked some earlier about the supportive environment the teachers need in order to do

t job well and so i think that the leadership and the grpance governance is important. >> i was out in fairfax last week as part of this pgram we're running throughout the week talk iing to the superintendent out there, one of these priority schools has twice as many teachers as some other schools. a beautiful uilding. the students that i think 20 or 21 was the average class size and it was just amazing to see that school and i've been in other schools where your heart breaks for the children because you don't see that. >> right. >> does it come down to socio ecomics in cases? >> i think, unfortunately, it does. we still have a formula for funding schools in this country, you know based on property taxes and i do think that states could learn lessons from maryland and their thornton decision which was a behoth effort to equalize funding

formulas across the states and that extra money or that redistributed money went into the hiring and retention of uality teachers and the distribution of those teachers into communities that previously had not seen that kind of concentration of highly credentialed teachers so i do think there's work that can be done at state legislatures to be mindful of equitable funding formula and to get resources to communities that need them, fiscal resources. >> we'll talk about reform and what the white house has been doing, too, when we come r

and welcome back. as we mentioned at the top we are kick iing off education nation. l week on nbc the "today" show, news 4 at 5:00, nightly news with brian williams will be offering special reports education in ouregion and in america, too, and where we stand. we're going to be hearing from

tea teachers, people out in technology, business leaders, politicians, government leers as well. let's talk aout a word that we've -- the "r" word, reform. we've been hearing about it in our region and, in fact, all over the country in school districts. it meansdifferent this to different people. what do you see reform meaning to you? we'll start with you. >> i see reform as opportunities for chan, innovation, opportunities for us to have conversations within our own charter school, d.c. bilingual and within the larger ganization, a community based organization, how we can creatively and very purposely improve the quality of education for our children. and some of the national initiatives like race to the top push us and inspire us to reach higher and even further. so i think reform as a positive concept. >> preside obama's race to the top too early to tell or are we getting some indications that it's working? >> i think too early to tell.

i think we still 56 years after brown versus board of education have too many children who are languishing in these schools with noncredentialed teachers and a high turnover rate among principals and lack of acce to quality instructional material. i would like to see reform as a speed-to-scale equity where we look at those districts that don't have what they need and in some kd of speedy way infuse resources to those settings so that at the end of theday children have access to stable leadership and highly credentialed teachers. so i think i define reform as speed to scale equity. >> all right. and i agree with the equity point. at the end of the day reform to me is about a focus on outcomes and making sure that kids are actually at the end of the day moving the needle inerms of academic achievement for kids and, again, there's a the lot of research being done out there. i think the race to the top

effort is beginning to move the needle in terms of encouraging the right kinds of reforms at the state level as we move to common standards among the state, to greater accountability for teachers. and i think that's all to the good. so i'm very hopeful about it but at the end of the day i think you can sum up reform in one way and that is a focus on outcome for kids. >> and you mentioned speed. h aggressive can you be without getting some blow back in some school districts? how fast can you shoot for results? >> well, again, i think that obviously we've been it at this reform effort for some time. it began in the 1990s and it's continued onward and so, again, this is not going to happen overnight. i think that much is very clear. but the one thing gratifyg to me is there clearly seems to be a consensus across the country. i think there's a consensus largely across partisan lines. the country is beginning to

rally around those numbers that you read at the beginning here and recognizing that we are losing our place, our leadehip place in the world and that we've got to do something about it and thathile equity and more resources are certainly important and you look across thecountry there are clear disparities that are based upon socioeconomic status but the answer to the problem is much deeper than just a question of resoces. it really is about better accountability and a real focus on outcomes for kids. >> you talk about outcomes. there's been mu debate on stap ardized testing. al quick,our thoughts on standardized testing. >> another complex question. the testing indtry is a multibillion-dollar industry and i don't think that the standardized testi dialogue haserved children and education very well. i think the conversation that would better serve us is this equitable distribution of sources that get ushose outcomes that my colleague is

speaking about. and i think that the issue of testing bris us a broader issues that schools can't do it on their own. they're embedded in a larger economic and social structure and more than anything tests point to the socioeconomic status of the child and his or her family. so for children who a in communities that are racked with joblessness, that are under siege by police and other enforcement services that have high rates of drug trafficking, those children and the economic conditions of their community will speak more to their performance on these test than their intellectual capabilities. so anything that we as adults can do to strip away those barriers and hindrances for those children i think will be valuable. we've really got to engage a serious conversion about joblessness and concentrated joblessness in urban communities and its impact on children and

their academic opportunities. >> on that important note we have to say we're out of time. we tank you all for coming in today and thank you for all that you do every day on the front lines out there. we appreciate it. and w thank you for watching, again, education nation kicks off here on nbc 4 and throughout the nbc family all weeklong. now back to news 4 today. enjoy the rest of your weekend, everybody. the state of schools -- this morning d.c. schools chancellor michelle rhee shares her education reform views with a national audience. and preveible agedy -- fire investigators released what they believe caused the devastating fire that destroyed three homes. goodorning and welcome back to news 4 today. i'm aaron gilchrist.

kimbly suitors is off this morning. it's sunday, september 26t 2010. we'll take a look at our headlines in a second. a quick checkon our forecast. chuck bell is here with us. a cool start to the d. >> it is finally going to stay cool for a little while. we all appreciate after some crazy heat around here. 90s, 90s, 90s allear long it seems like. look at that, the first rain drops have hit the lens. once it hits the lens, that makes it official at least in my opinion. full overcast outside this morning. jt a few drops out ther nothing all that heavy. temperatures are in the mid and upper 60s across the region at this point in time. here is a look at doppler the last couple of hours. lightittle patches of rain drifting northbound out of the central parts of the shenandoah valley and the piedmont. we'll hav in and out chances for some light rain this morning. it isn't going to add up to much. it should be less than a tenth of an inch. you know, i've gotten soaking wet running through 0.05 of an inch of ra or so. the cleveland browns are in town

to take on the ravens. 75 degrees. it won't be a hot day at the stadium but it will be a chance for some passing showers. have the slickers ready to go. >> all right. in our headlines now, people who live in a manassas neighborhood now know what caused a devastating fire that ried through their community. on thursday flames jumped from house to house and destroyed three homes and damaged five others. darcy spencer got reaction from neighbors after they learned what sparked the fire. >> reporter: fire investigators have determined the blaze at the three homes in manassas on thursday were caused by a resident who threw a cigarette butt in a potted ant on his deck. >> potting soil is not dirt. potting soil is organic material, mulch in repotted ants is shredded it timber, shredded bark. >> reporter: the fire marshal says the blaze in the sumner lake community spread from the potted plant to t deck to the vinyl siding and then to

adjacent homes. it's been ruled an accident. the fire marshal says the smoker, whose house was among those destroyed, had been discarding cigarette butts this way for some time. >> there was a small breeze at 5 to 10 miles an hour blowing in th direction. and it probably fanned that. the way the fire started probably smoldered for a while. >> reporter: many residents learned of the findings at a press conference. >> i'm glad it wasn't arson or somebody throwing a firebomb or somebody doing something malicious. so, in my heart, i am relieved. >> reporter: some residents questioned the fire department's four-minute response time and whether water supply and pressure were issues in battling the blaze. but some heap praise on firefighters who prevented it from spreading further. >> they are saying by the time we got here, which was pretty quick,he three homes that were already on fire were contained to those three homes.

>> reporter:ire officials say they hope the devastation is a reminder to be safe and to be responsible with smoking materials. the best way to put out a cigarette in an ashtray or metal container. in manassas, darcy spencer, news 4 today. a family is gtting community support as it deals with the loss of a mother and her two young children killed in a townhouse fire. people in the lorton neighborhood held a candlelight vigil for 24-year-old eiln langham anderson and r sons solomon and alfonso. they died from smoke inhalation and burns in the fire on wednesday. the children were 3 and 5 years old. a fairfax county teenager is in the hospital with life threatt threatening inries after he was hit by a car last night. this happened about 8:15 at the intersection of pleasant valley road. the victim's age and name have not been release police questioned the driver who stayed on the scene after the accident.

hpening today, public education in wasngton, d.c., will take a national stage. d.c.'s school chancellor michelle rhee will discuss the state of education on"meet the press." this morning that program will broadcast from the special learning plaza at rockefeller center in new york. this is part of nbc's weeklong education nation. it will take an in-deh look at reforming the nation's education system. joining rhee are secretary of education arne duncan, former d.c. administrator robert bb, and president of the american federation of teachers randi weingarten who has butted heads with rhee in the past. you can watch it at 10:30. president obama is coming out swinging against the republicans' latest plan, what they call a pledge to america. earlier this week top republicans unveiled the plan that calls for lowerpending, vealing the president's health care plan and extending the bush tax cuts. it's similar to the contract with america that then speaker

newt gingrich proposed in the mid-90s. president obama is firing back saying the gop is simply not listening to what americans want. >> the republans who want to take over congress offered their own ideas the other day. many were the very same policies that led to the economic crisis in the first place which isn't surprising since many of their leaders were among the architects of that failed policy. >> president obama added that the republicans' plan amounts to tax cuts for millionaires and a return to the failed picies of the previous administration. new today the pentagon hopes buying up copies of an army reserve officer's memoirs can can help keep some state secrets safe. according to a cnn report, the defense department destroyed 9,500 copies of the meir operation dark heart by lieutenant colonel anthony schaefer. military officials said it detailed secret activities about the u.s. special operations command, the cia, and the national security agency. the publisher released a secon

printing with several edits. time now is 7:38. still to come this morning, parents, listen up. the findings of a surprising study about kids and water. plus, the infamous red dress seen round the world hits the auction block. and a teenager lives to talk about a terrifying encounter off the coast of

a virginia beach teenager is lucky to be alive after being attacked by a shark while surfing. he was surfing off sand bridge beach when he was blind sided by the vicious predator there. nbc's jason marks now with the story. >> reporter: a day at the beach. three friends won't soon forget. >> look at the teeth imprints. i thought it would never hapn. when we first got there, it did not even cross my mind that we could even be potentially in danger. >> reporter: kcaleb and his buddies were hanging out at sand bridge. >> we were at porters island. me and my friends usually go surfingown there a lot. >> reporter: they were standing next to tir boards when they felt something in the water brush up against them.

>> he said there's something out here with us, and i couldn't even finish my next sentence befo it grabbedy ankle and i felt a little bit of a thrashing. >> om the waist down he was covered in blood. i had a lot on my arm. it was pretty hectic. >> i immediately jumped on my board to try to get myself out of the water and as i did i felt my board start to lean back and a sharp pain in my knee. after that it let go. it was just a quick bite and release. >> reporter: with help from his buddies caleb was able to get back to the beach. >> i looked down and the only thing i see, i can't even see the cuts. i see blood pouring downy legs. >> reporter: rescue crews believe he was attacked by a shark. his knee and ankle are now bandaged. he has 51 stitches and a story to tell. >> i was just hoping i wasn't going to lose a leg or not be able to move my leg ever again. i feel real lucky that i can still move my leg. >> i guess because ere we live we don't think about it it because it happens so rare. we're thinking, you knowalmost impervious to it. it's never going to happen to us.

>> reporter: no one ever saw the shark, not that anyone wanted to. but the fear of what's lurking in the water isn't going to stop caleb from going back out. >> i will eventually. just not anytime soon. it will probably be next sum earp before i do. >> nbc's jason marks reporting. officials are trying to figure out what kind of shark attacked caleb. they took his surfboard. >> salahi is auction iing offhat now infamous dress that she wore to the white house state dinner for charity. this is the dress as being previewed in alexandria. they sa they expected it to go from somewhere between $2,000 and $3,000. the auction is this coming saturday and 80% of the proceeds will go to two charities. some news for your health this morning. 's no secret it's tough to get kids to eat their veggies. a good chance your son or

daughter is not eating or drinking enough water. they say the dangers of children not getting enough water can have far reaching implications. doctors say a lack ofwater can affect physiologica functions and cause fatigue, muscle weakness and headaches. researchers found that today's children are less likely to have water with meals. instead many opt for sodas and juices. >> you have to stay hydrated as a ruer. mother nature decided to throw water our way. not necessarily when we want it had but we do need the rain so we're going to have to take it. nonetheless a complete check of your sunday forecast and some awesome pictures of some thunderstorms in kansas yesterday. coming up right after this. think about the internet.

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tpical storm matthew pounding the coast and now honduras is on ert. a few thousand aide workers are in ace to help if needed. the storm could dump as much as ten inches on honduras and nicaragua. police are being evacuated and flights are grounded. >> yes, indeed. just down to a tropical

depression. now we have to watch th same area of low pressure does have potential for life in its future. yesterday, of course, college football saturday. i was glued to my set as i'm sure you were. >> take this shot over here. go ahead. beautiful weather around here yestday but, boy, do we have some great severe weather in the midwe midwest. got these great pictures from the associated press. take a check of this, everybody. th is a kansas state university of central florida game yesterday. actually this is a liveicture of downtown washington with nice cloudy sky in place this morning. beautiful weather for us. now let's take a check of the storm from yesterday out in kansas. check that out. this is manhattan, kansas. taking on central florida and they had a severe thunderstorm come right down the field. this is about midway, i think the second quarter yesterday. that's a beautiful looking cloud. they did have to stop the game

for about an hour and a ha. look at how low and rumbling that cloud is that came straight over the stadium there. quite a bit of lowering out of it. the storm did produce 50 to 60 mi 60-mile-an-hour straight line wind and quite a bit in the way of rainfall. an inch of rain right there on the field in less than an hour's time. awesome pictures from kansas state yesterday. right here in washington today clouds moved in ahead of schedule and the rain drops are running ahead ofchedule as well. 69 degrees is our current temperature. the dew point 52. a good separation between those two numbers. so a lot of these rain drops i'll show you on the radar are still evapoting before they make it to the ground. upper 50s and low 60s out wards the blue ridge. mid and upper 60s right here around town. a check of the doppler over the last hour. light little showers drifting from southwest to northeast here sprinkles now upper montgomery county. a little bit of light rain also down to culpepper and washington, virginia, and

rappahonnock county. not expecting heavy rain out of the system but could see an isolated .05 out of ts system here over the next couple of hours. there's more rain down across southwestern virginia and more rain than that across the western carolinas and northern georgia. th is all coming in our direction. not going to rain this morning. a little break. if you're going to do things outside, no heavy rain expecte the heavier showers and steadier rains show up overnight tonight and go through tomorrow and through much of tuesday as well. so today will be sort of an in and out transition day. 60s and 70s along the coastline but 40s and 50s back up to our north and west. there's the area of low preure right there rolling through portions of central illinois now. it's heading southbound for now but eventually will make the turn i the southern part of the appalachians and come right up the chain of the mountains and as a result heavy rains are a possibility especially in far southwest virginia and the

western carolinas. some places down there could get four or five inches of rai here and around t area our rainfall amounts will be more between the one and two inch rainfall rate but nonetheless we need every little bit o a drop. our micro casthrough the rest of the day today. less than a tenth of an inch of rain. overnight the steadier rains do move in. sotoday cloudy, passing light showers, highs today only in the low 70s so a big change from yesterday's 93 and then tomorrow showery weather off and on through much of the day. rain could turn heavy a times late tomorrow and tomorrow night and then there's a chance for some stronger thunderstorms on tuesday. we'll keep you posted on that. then things settle right back down wednesday, thursday, friday time frame. keep an eye on the tropics. still some indications we may have something trying toorm in the gulf of mexico later in the week. we'll keep you posted. >> thank you, chuck. appreciate it. albert haynesworth breaks his silence and an unlikely ro on the field for the university of maryland. hakem dermish has your moing sports. good morning, everyone. freshman quarterbacks usually hold a clipboard on the

sideline. but t maryland's danny o'brien. yesterday the redshirt freshm made his first career start against florida international. the kid was stellar. but it's no surprise. two weeks ago playing in a backup role o'brien threw three first half touchdowns. yesterday o'brien got the nod because starter jamar robinson was out with a shoulder injury. in college park, second quarter, danny o'brien and the terps trailed 7-0. here they come working out of the shotgun. o'brien throws to the corner of the end zone. williams, are you kidding me? gets the foot down, makes the grab. great catch. terrapins tied at 7-7. o'brien is the first freshman to start at qb for maryland in 11 years. ensuing panthers possession, punting it away to tony logan. this guy is good. fields it at the 15 yard line. tony logan is also a speedy felw, gets by everyone. and tony logan is going to score. 85-yard punt return for the touchdown.

marylantakes a 14-7 lead just like that. and terps' starting qb robinson on the sideline hurt his should last week. third quarter, game knotted at 21-21. o'brien and the terps up top and deep for torre smith. a 68-yard scoring strike. so brian threw for 250 yards, two tds and no interceptions. also running back scott had two tds on 103 yards rushing. maryland beat fiu 42-28 improving to 3-1. virginia tech opening up conference play against boston college. the hokies defense went to work. sideline, first quarter, no score. bc in the red zone. under pressure throws but it's the big interception. that's impressive. ensuing hokies possession. taylor, just smooth here. drops back. plenty of time. finding somebody. looking for somebody. rolls right. tosses it to darren evans

scoots down the sideline. 30-yard gainer. evans would score on the very next play giving virginia tech a 7-0 lead. hokies defensive coordinator foster, looking like a mad man on the sideline. hey, hey, watch the qb here. 15 seconds to play first half. first and goal for the eagles. rus out of the pocket trying to get it to the end zone. morgan, number two on the tackle. and short of the goal line and the clock expires so that'st. end of the half. frank beamer and the hokies blanked boston college 19-0 their first shutout since 2006. the hokies are now 2-2. let's go to charlottesville. mike london anthe virginia military institute. first quarter, no score. cavs on offense. dontrelle inman. watch this kid. makes me moves and he's in for a 25-yard score. uva in front, 7-0. threw three touchdowns.

later game tied at 7-7. vmi kicking it off to reynard horn. he's also a talented young man takes it at the 13 yard ne. finds some running room. and i would say that this is an abundance of running on the play. 87 yards for the score. the cavs win big, 48-7. uva is unbeaten at home. next up florida state seminoles. redskins defensive tacklalbert haynesworth expects to play today against the rams after being inactive last week. haynesworth has been a topic of conversation for all of the wrong reasons. yesterday he added more to the discussion. here's haynesworth talking about his contract on the rock show on 106.7 the fan. >> i gue a lot of people don't have backbones. just because someone pays you money doesn't mean they can make you do whatever they want or whatever, you know?

it means everything is for sale? i'm not for sale. yeah, i signed a contract and i paid a lot of mey, but just because that don't mean i'm for sale or a slave or whatev. you know? i mean, like we agreed upon come that that i wld play defensiveackle and not nose guard and all of this other stuff. signing with a 4-3 team. there were a lot of promises and stuff like that. now, i mean, it has been better. we run a lot of 4-3 stuff and you'll see that tomorrow. talking basebl now. ryan zimmerman missed his third straight ga because of a rib injury. riggleman said zimmerman could sit out the remainder of the year. in the other dugout is braves manager bobby cox and he's on the final leg of his farewell tour. the 69-year-old is set to retire at the end of the season. the nationals will honor the

longtime skipper before today's game. yesterday cox earned his 2,500th victory. top three, no score, brian mccann up with two o no out. nats playing the shift. alberto gonzalez stops it. ian desmond not covering second. throw to first and adam dunn can't take it. derek lowe comes in to score. here comes jason hayward. grabs the ball, throws to the plate and he's so out. that ends the inning but the braves take a 1-0 lea top six,ame score. facing mccann again down the right-field line. michael moore and kennedy giving chase looking up io the sun and, wow, kennedy makes a great catch there. tough looking up into the sun. still making the catch. still in the inning, three batters later, alex gonzalez up with two on and he crushes one to left. out for a three-run home run. the braves shut out the nationals 5-0. ends washington's four-game win streak. manag bobby cox gets his

2,500th victory. that's all for your morning sports. i'm hakem dermish. have a great day. and one more sports football score to pass along to you. mountaineer fans may want to look away. west virginia lost to lsu, done in by special teams. lsu's patrick peterson returned the punt 60 yards for a touchdown. and blocked the field goal. west virginia battled back but fell short. the final score 20-14. all right. football players have nothing on the guys and girls. several groups took part in the dulles day family festival this weekend. your eyes are not deceiving you. they pull an airbus. teams are made up of 25 members who then must pull the aircraft 12 feet. the chesapeake sheriff's office from virginia won the competition. they pulled the jet 12 feet in under 6 seconds. event befits special olympics.

a pretty nice trophy there for winning, too. >> i don't think they'll be able to help them take off, though. you need a little more speed. >> more than that, right? thank you for joining us. that's it for this hour of news 4 today. we're back in 25 minutes with local news and weather update. join ups at 9:00 for a full hour of new weather and sports.